Tips, Tricks and Tales from the Road

5 Reasons to Love/Hate Dubai

1

Love – Transportation

Whether by bus, boat, train, taxi or limo – there’s always a transportation to use. Our hotel provided a shuttle to nearby malls and attractions. We also took Big Bug Tours all over the city. There were a few times we took boats to our destination, the old traditional Abra ride across Old Dubai Creek was my absolute favorite!

Hate – Haze/Smog

There always seemed to be a luring fog over the city. In the distance, you could see a haze over the city. I can imagine it’s from all the millions of vehicles, oil rigs and constant construction. At the end of the day, when I got back to the hotel I could run a tissue across my face and see a gray residue.

2

Love – Bigger is Better Idea

There’s so much to see and so much to do. Something around every corner, things you’ve never seen before and things your mind couldn’t even imagine. I felt like I didn’t have enough hours in the day to do see everything I wanted to, so I never ran out of things to do. For example, I was at the mall and decided to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and my table view was of an indoor sky center, Ski Dubai.

Hate – Construction

There was construction going on around the clock. Actually, they were building a board walk in front of our hotel and another hotel right next door. So all night long we could hear the beeping of trucks and engines revving. At one point, our room became unbearable because we were being awoke by the noise. In photos there was always a crane or some type of construction equipment obstructing the view. It made it hard to see the beauty beyond all the noise and mess.

3

Love – Safety

There was never really a point where I ever felt I should be concerned about my safety or scared for any reason. Plus there were cameras everywhere – in the taxi, on the bus, at the stop lights, in the malls. Whenever I looked up, there was a camera watching. Creepy… but it made me feel secure, so I felt comfortable going out by myself to do tours and see attractions.

Hate – Traffic

At times during the day, the traffic was a complete stand still. Typically to get from one destination to the next, even a few blocks away, it would take a minimum of 20 minutes. Because of the massive amounts of traffic and unpredictable, we were late and missed tours we had already paid for.

4

Love – No Taxes

Whatever the price tag says, is the price you pay. Since I’m American this is something I’m not used to. Usually we have to do the math in our head to figure out what the actual price will. And often times we’re surprised with the higher prices at check out. That’s definitely not the case in Dubai.

Hate – Black Rain

One day the sky became grey and overcast. About 30 minutes later it started to rain and shorty after it began to hail. People were running for shelter and screaming, kids were crying. We hid out in a bus stop. When the bus came we got on, it was standing room only because so many other people had the same exact idea. As we drove, it rained harder and harder. The streets began to flood, the bus had two floors with an open roof and rain started running down and flooding the bus. This is when I noticed the water was black. Everything I touched turned my hands black. I looked in the mirror and my face splatter black, like mud.

5

Love – Everywhere Delivers

Literally, anywhere and everywhere. You name the food, it can be delivered. It was a little overwhelming at first when we looked up delivery options and have a list of 100 to choose from. One night we had Thai food delivered to our room, another night we were just exhausted so we ordered Burger King. Also, they deliver by motorcycle so they’re able to get the food to you rather quickly, while it’s still hot!

Hate – Expensive

Dubai is a glamorous city, so it’s no surprise that things were more expensive than average. An order of water at restaurant was normally $5 or up, depending how nice the establishment. I’m American, so that was a brand new concept for me, when we order water at dinner, it’s free.